Not a phrase one hears that often (!) but last night I encountered one in the guise of a 1966 Penfolds St Henri ‘Claret’
I bought a pair of these many years ago from the wine shop on Circular Quay in Sydney (along with a long since imbibed Bin 60a).
An Australian friend in KL for a few days was a good excuse to open one. A good fill, and an excellent cork that came out in one piece. I was surprised at the density of the colour - deep red/ tawny, almost mahogany, with a ‘sunset’ orange rim.
The nose, straight out of the blocks, was very rich and sweet, akin to a Christmas cake or an old antique desk. While nowadays St Henri is mostly Shiraz, we speculated that this contained a high proportion of Cabernet and maybe even Grenache given the very perfumed nose.
The palate was perfectly resolved. Sweet fruit, a hint of acidity and a long finish. There were none of the usual pepper or meat traits that I would have expected with a Shiraz, instead we were treated to chocolate and cinnamon. After about an hour the palate became a bit more figgy and less appealing.
Overall a beautiful bottle of grog